//------------------------------// // Arc 2: Balance of Power (UNEDITED) // Story: Hellsing: The Rise of Seras Victoria // by Kaliann25 //------------------------------// ARC 2: BALANCE OF POWER (Part 1) Everyone were reunited at Fluttershy’s cottage, gathered around the large coffin that members of the Royal Guard brought upstairs; causing a massive hiding of Fluttershy’s pets. Even Star Swirl shivered when he felt the dark aura coming from the wooden box. A dead silence reigned all over the place, while everypony were waiting for the night ready to have a “calm” chat with the creature inside the box; even if Fluttershy already gave them the main details of how she awoke Seras and she swore loyalty to her. Even Discord defended the creature explaining that she was still a good pony who did her best to protect life; and only because Fluttershy asked her. And then, the moon appeared on the sky. The coffin’s cover slowly and creepily moved, allowing to the creature to show herself. Everyone except for Fluttershy and Discord moved backwards in horror. Star Swirl tried to get away from the guards who were holding him: but they somehow stood firm. Seras Victoria finally arrived. “Oh come on, shit happens you coward; and I won’t do anything to you unless you harm Fluttershy; or she ask me to” said Seras looking at the old magician. “But… I also understand everyone’s fear; I know my nature doesn’t help too much” Celestia gulped but managed to walk firmly and authoritative to Seras “So you are the creature known as Seras Victoria” said the white alicorn. Seras bowed respectfully to the Princess of the Sun. “Is an honor to meet you, Princess Celestia; ruler of Equestria. It’s been so long since I met Royalty; and I’m very honored to stand in front of you. Now, I hope that my intervention helped in your battle against your enemy Star Swirl the Bearded” Star Swirl cursed and stared at Seras defiantly. Seras stared back silently, but the effect was devastating: Star Swirl’s eyes turned red as Seras’ and began to sweat and whim as a little scared kid. At the end he put an idiotic smile, trembling in his corner. “Seras stop it” commanded Fluttershy. “You already defeated him, okay?” Seras bowed submissively. “I know, sorry Fluttershy my master; but I assure you he’ll be okay in a few minutes, I only used a little mind control to keep him quiet for a while. But if you allow me a suggestion, perhaps everyone could relax a little if you reactivate my Restriction Seals” Fluttershy smiled proud of Seras. “Oh, that’s a great idea Seras! You see? She’s very cooperative and sweet, right? Okay, I reactivate your Restriction Seals one, two and three. From now on your powers are limited until I need you again; thank you Seras” A red aura surrounded the vampire and she bowed to her Master; uncomforting the yellow Pegasus but she let it pass this time. “Aaand… officially you’re creeping me out” gulped Rainbow Dash scratching her neck nervously. “But thank you, I guess, for saving us and all… ehem, Seras Victoria” Seras offered Rainbow a gentle smile. “It was my pleasure, Rainbow Dash. And don’t be shy, you can call me just Seras” Dash gulped but managed to return the smile, leaving aside she was a monster from the pits of hell, she had to admit Seras was a nice pony. And then Rarity approached gently. “Ehem, first thank you for all you did Seras. I have a present for you, but I’m afraid I must admit that giving presents to a creature of darkness unnerves me a little” said the white unicorn offering Seras a small box. “Anyway, I hope you like it Seras Victoria. Is the least I can do for the pony who saved our lives; besides I think it totally fits you darling” Seras made a small nod accepting the box and opened it. Inside there was a beautiful yellow sundress; perfect for summer days and a matching hat. Seras couldn’t repress a gasp of satisfaction, making Rarity’s day. “It’s beautiful, just like the ones I used to wear during my free days; you know? I still remember when we used to live on that small motel on South America after a mission and I wore it on the streets of Brazil walking along with captain Bernadotte” She stopped, letting escape a small tear of blood. Looking at her sad, Pinkie Pie bounced to her with her gigantic smile. “Ey Sery! Are you alright? Because I’m suuuuper fine because of you. If it wasn’t for you, we would be stone right now and that’s not fun; because being a statue means no more singing or laughing or bouncing or dancing or anything fun. When I saw you the first time I thought: Pinkie that’s an odd pony but still your friend; and I wanted to throw a huge THANK YOU party but Twilight and Princess Celestia insists in giving you their approval before and that’s why we’re here instead of a party, but I still made you some cake, you want it? I know you do!” And she practically forced the sweet on Seras’ mouth knocking her down. Seras began to cough and twitch all over the floor trying to breath. Applejack reacted quickly and applied the Heimlich maneuver to make Seras threw up the cake. Seras thanked Applejack in silence, breathing heavily after that one. Pinkie Pie looked at Seras with tears on her eyes. “You don’t like my cake? It’s my super welcome recipe” Seras took the napkin Applejack offered to her and after cleaning her mouth, the vampire just tried to comfort Pinkie. “It’s not your fault Pinkie Pie; you see, as a vampire I can’t consume normal food. I’m pretty sure you’re a great baker but I can’t taste your delights; it’s part of my nature” Pinkie nodded and began to cry loudly. “Pinkie! She already told you that it wasn’t that she didn’t like your cake!” Protested Applejack. “I KNOW, I KNOW! I CRY FOR THE POOR SERAS! IMAGINE AN EXISTANCE WITHOUT SWEETS, FORCED TO HAVE THE SAME DRINK AS A SNACK OVER AND OVER AGAIN! IT MUST BE HORRIBLE!” “Pinkie, I think you’re annoying Seras” said Applejack looking at the creature, who stood there without saying a word… until she busted into laughs. Not evil laughs, real and happy laughs that slowly began to spread all over the ponies; who laughed careless for a while, until Seras stood already recovered. “Amazing! I haven’t laughed that much since I was a little girl. You’re great Pinkie Pie!” “Laughter is the most important part of us, that’s my believe!” Said Pinkie Pie hugging Seras, who confusedly returned the embrace. “Thank you Pinkie Pie, it’s a relieve to know I can still laugh like the old times” “You mean when you were still alive?” Asked Twilight. Seras nodded sadly. “I’m afraid that’s right. You see, being an immortal monster is an annoyance; that’s why I don’t understand why that idiot wishes immortality that much. It only brings you loneliness” Star Swirl grinded his teeth but didn’t said a word, he didn’t wanted to suffer another mind-control attack from the creature. Twilight looked at her idol first and then to Seras. “Well, you’re totally terrifying but still we owe you one Seras. Thank you very much; and ehehehe… I don’t know, it doesn’t feel odd to use your powers to protect Equestria?” Seras shrugged. “Not quite. a million years ago existed a secret operation agency called the Hellsing Organization; where they had this believe: that humans, or ponies given the case, are inadequate anti-monster agents. They’re weak, they’re mortal, they’re corruptible; body, mind and soul. The most effective weapon against a monster is another more powerful monster” “So you used to fight for good” said Celestia staring to Seras. She nodded. “For over two hundred years I was an exterminator under Hellsing’s command. My mission, protect humanity” Celestia raised an eyebrow. “So you’re saying that humans really existed” Seras nodded again. “Yes, Princess Celestia. As a matter of fact, I was a human myself until I turned into this creature” “A pony?” Asked Celestia. “Vampire” The Princess finally admitted it, Seras was a good girl with a great and very likable personality; but her demonic nature made her doubt. Discord guessed her thoughts and rolled his eyes, but didn’t intervened since he also had problems to accept Seras Victoria at the beginning. “So this isn’t your real form, Seras Victoria” continued questioning Celestia after a while. Seras looked at Fluttershy, who offered her a tiny smile that indicated to obey the Princess in everything. So, Seras bowed to Celestia. “This is my real form, Princess Celestia; because is the form my master chose for me. But my original form was a very much like a human” Celestia nodded, that thing made her nervous but at least she wasn’t a danger. Or at least she hoped so. “Okay, we’ll discuss that later. Now, Seras Victoria, what can you tell me about the invasion from Tartarus? How much time do we have?” Seras stared at Star Swirl. “Their blood told me so many things, but the mains are: if Star Swirl didn’t return glorious from his fight against the Elements of Harmony, his second in command will advance, but only after reorganize their forces. It’s a very large army, formed by all kind of creatures that are locked on that magic prison. They managed to dig a huge hole to escape from the enchanted mountain, away from the vigilance of Cerberus” Everypony exchanged a concerned look. “I calculate the whole forces reorganization will take from three to four months” continued Seras. “The second in command, a monster known as Tirek, is very careful and fears the power of Harmony. He won’t risk more than necessary; but still wants vengeance so sooner or later he’ll attack” Star Swirl spitted to the ground. “He’s probably a coward, but Tirek will know what to do; even to defeat you, Miss ‘exterminator agent’ from Hellsing” Celestia advanced to Star Swirl. “The power of Harmony in unbeatable, Star Swirl. And I can assure you Seras Victoria won’t participate in the battle” Seras looked at Fluttershy who nodded slowly. “You’re helpful and all, but very scary Seras” The girl bowed to the shy Pegasus. “As you wish, but I highly recommend to prepare yourselves for the moment of truth. If you want, you can use the weapons I have on storage; especially designed to destroy all kinds of monsters” Celestia looked at Seras. “Excuse me?” “You heard me, under the cave Fluttershy found me, I have several weapons and boxes and boxes of holly ammunition that will kill every threat to your kingdom. Thanks for the blessing of the Human’s God, my arsenal haven’t age a day” “Kill? Are you suggesting that we should kill?” Exclaimed Twilight. “You have no other chance to defeat Tirek’s army” explained Seras. “They’ll kill you if they have the chance, so you better act before giving them that chance! Celestia shook her head. “Stop it! Just stop it, please? We ponies have all kind of defenses that doesn’t imply kill. Now let’s concentrate in you Seras Victoria: from now on your existence is not a secret for us or the inhabitants of Ponyville” Seras nodded. “That’s why you should introduce yourself to town and find the way to reform. Maybe that’s not necessary but I won’t rest until I make sure that you’re not a threat for my little ponies” Seras raised an eyebrow. “In exchange of being reformed and make some friends, I’ll send you a shipping of medical blood from Canterlog General. Giving you a chance is the least I can do for saving us; and now if you excuse me, I’ll return to my home; this was a very bad day” Then, she flew throw the window while their guards took away the weakened Star Swirl. When they left, Discord shook his head in disapproval. “Not using Seras’ force is a tactical mistake. She can handle the whole Tartarus all by herself, right?” Seras smiled. “Thank you for trusting me Discord but you better don’t tell her. She’s frightened from me” “We can’t really blame her for that” said Twilight. “But if she gave you a chance, don’t waste it Seras Victoria. If you show her that the Magic of Friendship can change you she’ll let you in peace. If she told you to not to act, you better do as she says” Seras shrugged, even if she knew that Discord was right. “Very well, what I’m supposed to do nos?” Fluttershy just smiled warmly. “Make some friends of course. Everypony saw you saving the town, so I imagine that they see you as a great friend; or at least not a threat. It’ll be fun Seras, trust me” Seras nodded. “If that’s what you think, I’ll do as you say, Fluttershy. But I still believe that is a waste of time and we better prepare for the Tartarus’ invasion” “And about that… you better prepare yourself Seras” said Fluttershy. “I think Discord is right and not using your power is a tactical mistake” “WHAT?” Shouted Twilight. “You can’t disobey Princess Celestia. She was very clear: we can’t kill anyone, I know Seras is very powerful and can use her powers for good; but now we are in a different era and violence is not the answer” “I’m not saying that I’ll disobey her but I think we can talk her to reason. Is like you said Twilight, Seras is very powerful and is used to fight for good” “And if we add that she just saved us…” mumbled Dash. “Sorry Twilight, my dear, I know she’s your teacher and you love her; but she’s too soft to menaces. I’m very afraid of Seras; but I’m terrified from the Tartarus Invasion” They all agreed, even Twilight; if reluctantly. After all they all knew that Star Swirl was only the beginning. But now they had to concentrate on Seras’ new friends.